BROWNSVILLE, TX – (April 29, 2026) – The Livery Venue in downtown Brownsville
On April 29, YTexas brought together mayors, executives, city council members, technology experts, educators, and regional economic developers at The Livery Venue in downtown Brownsville for our YTexas 2026 Regional Event.
Article based on an interactive roundtable with local leaders discussing how the Rio Grande region is approaching workforce development to support the region’s massive growth. Roundtable was moderated by Linda Head, President of Leto Consultants, at the YTexas Regional in Brownsville.
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The Rio Grande Valley, a quiet revolution is underway.
Leaders from community colleges, K–12, industrial giants, and economic development groups are converging around a shared objective: transform the region from a low‑wage, service‑heavy economy into a high‑wage, technical hub anchored in advanced industry.
A recent discussion at Texas Southmost College (TSC) offered a snapshot of how that transformation is taking shape—and the tensions that must be resolved to make it real.
From Affordable Labor to Trained Talent
Texas Southmost College President Dr. Jesús Roberto Rodriguez framed the issue bluntly: affordable labor alone is no longer a competitive strategy.
In the 1990s, working with maquiladoras in Mexico, he saw the pattern firsthand:
- Companies came for low costs.
- They stayed only where labor could be trained and upgraded.
Today, his institution acts as a “workforce asset manager” for the region:
- Designing certificates, associate degrees, and industry certifications around specific employer demand.
- Offering customized training—credit and non‑credit—for companies in sectors like:
- LNG and petrochemicals
- SpaceX‑adjacent aerospace supply chains
- Desalination and water technology
- Advanced manufacturing and automation
- Leveraging state, local, and sales‑tax‑driven funding so employers can upskill the workforce at minimal or no direct training cost.
The message to business is simple: Your growth is our success. Let us build and manage the talent portfolio you need.
Why an Automotive Tech Giant Chose McAllen
The region’s pitch isn’t hypothetical. It’s already landed serious investment.
Elizabeth (Liz) Suarez, head of the McAllen Chamber and economic development efforts, described how the city secured a $230 million investment from Valeo, a top‑tier global automotive supplier. The company is building its first “brain division” plant in North America in McAllen, producing a critical electronic component that will be in every GM vehicle starting in 2028.
Why McAllen?
- A 30‑year cross‑border industrial ecosystem
Valeo has operated in nearby Rio Bravo for decades. The binational manufacturing base and logistics network are proven. - A young, binational engineering pipeline
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- The Valley is one of the youngest regions in the country, with an average age in the late 20s.
- UTRGV graduates roughly 1,600 engineers per year—yet about 35% leave the region due to lack of high‑skill jobs.
- A coordinated regional narrative
When Liz and her partners pitch the region, they don’t just sell cost. They sell:
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- Bilingual, bicultural talent
- Family‑anchored workers who want to stay
- A coalition of city, college, and university leaders willing to align curricula, training, and incentives around specific projects
The takeaway: workforce is the value proposition, not a footnote.
STAMP and the Shift to Advanced Manufacturing
For Sean Herrity, founder of the South Texas Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (STAMP), the Rio Grande Valley is at a classic inflection point.
His experience helping German firms enter Texas exposed four universal investor needs: Customers. Sales. Capital. Networks.
STAMP exists to connect those dots for advanced manufacturers—without displacing existing EDCs and chambers. Its thesis is straightforward:
- The Valley must evolve beyond retail and low‑skill services.
- High‑wage growth will come from:
- Advanced manufacturing
- Automation and controls
- Automotive supply chains
- Aerospace‑related production
- That shift requires deliberate wage policy and talent strategy, not just “more jobs.”
Herrity pointed to Charlotte and Raleigh as playbooks:
- Charlotte pivoted from tobacco and textiles to a German‑inflected manufacturing and automation hub.
- Raleigh became a life sciences and biotech cluster.
His challenge to local leadership: the Valley can make a similar leap—if the region chooses to prioritize job quality and wages over job quantity.
Demand Is Here: LNG, Desalination, and Beyond
Crucially, the demand side is real, not theoretical. Replies from the participants:
- IDE Technologies is developing a seawater desalination plant on South Padre Island:
- Jobs will be high‑skill, high‑wage roles in advanced water technology.
- Every municipality and industrial facility in the region will need water professionals as technology modernizes.
- IDE is already engaging TSC, Texas A&M, and UTRGV to build a talent pipeline.
- Bechtel, constructing NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG facility:
- Reports over 70% local hire.
- Has co‑designed pipefitting and technical programs with TSC.
- Is investing in tools, scholarships, and apprenticeships to ensure local residents capture project value.
These projects—and others in the pipeline—underscore a simple reality:
The Rio Grande Valley doesn’t just need “more workers.” It needs more welders, pipefitters, instrument techs, water technologists, and advanced manufacturing technicians—and it needs them fast.
Fixing the CTE Mismatch
One of the sharpest critiques in the discussion focused on high school career and technical education (CTE).
Moderator Linda Leto Head and several K–12 leaders argued:
- Too many CTE programs are stuck in low‑demand, low‑wage pathways:
- Need to celebrate blue-collar prosperity (ie: truck drivers starting at near $60,000 and specialized drivers at $100k+)
- Interior design
- Generic “business” electives
- Meanwhile, regional employers are hungry for:
- Pipefitters and welders
- Industrial electricians and controls techs
- Process and instrumentation technicians
- Logistics and CDL drivers
- Water and wastewater operators
Texas is beginning to move toward a tiered funding model that favors high‑wage, high‑demand programs. But policy alone isn’t enough. Districts will have to rebuild CTE offerings around the actual opportunity set emerging in the Valley.
Solution: We need to produce local, viral content with mentors that young people can relate to who are already in the jobs that companies are recruiting for – rather than leaving the recruiting up to the high schools and colleges. In other words, the Valley must change how it talks about work, redefine blue collar work as high-tech work that reframes trades as honorable, lucrative and future-proof careers.
Don’t Forget the Trades—or Second Chances
A critical thread running through the conversation: not everyone’s path runs through a four‑year degree.
UTRGV professor and former commercial roofing trainer Deidre Johnson reminded the room:
- The economy also relies on:
- Roofers, welders, truck drivers, and field technicians
- Adults returning from the justice system
- Those who struggled in traditional academic tracks but excel with their hands and practical problem‑solving
- Many of these roles produce six‑figure earners and business owners.
Her call was for “grace for the trade”—ending the stigma that success only comes in a blazer, not in work boots.
That ethos is reflected in programs like the Possible Dream Adult High School, housed at TSC:
- Serving adults 18–50 who left high school before graduating.
- Offering:
- A traditional high school diploma, plus
- Industry‑based certifications in welding, pipefitting, nursing, and more.
- Growing from 23 to 110 students, with dozens preparing to graduate and enter the workforce—if employers step up with internships and placement.
The broader point: a serious workforce strategy in the Valley has to include youth, adults, and second‑chance learners.
Culture and Wages: The Mindset Shift Ahead
The meeting closed with a frank conversation about culture and compensation.
A long‑time local contractor described how the region has too often been sold as a “cheap labor market,” with outside firms paying a fraction locally of what they’d pay elsewhere for the same skills.
His argument—and one echoed by others—was clear:
- The Valley’s workforce is loyal, skilled, and rooted.
- If companies view that as an excuse to pay less, the region will continue to export its best people.
- If the region insists on higher standards for wages and quality of jobs, it can finally capture the full value of its talent.
Several leaders suggested that part of the answer is storytelling:
- Celebrating blue‑collar prosperity—like truck drivers starting near $60,000 and specialized drivers at $100k+.
- Producing local, viral content (inspired by the widely shared Snap‑on CEO video) that reframes trades as honorable, lucrative, and future‑proof careers.
In other words, the Valley must change how it talks about work, not just how it funds training.
The Moment of Choice
The ingredients for a step‑change in regional prosperity are in place:
- Industrial demand: LNG, desalination, advanced manufacturing, aerospace‑adjacent industry.
- Talent pipeline: one of the youngest populations in the U.S., a growing engineering base, and expanding technical programs.
- Institutional alignment: community colleges, universities, K–12, EDCs, and industry at the same table.
What comes next depends on whether the region can:
- Align CTE and postsecondary programs tightly with real, high‑wage demand.
- Treat companies as co‑educators, embedding industry in the classroom and the classroom on the jobsite.
- Insist on quality over quantity in job creation—prioritizing wages, skills, and long‑term mobility over raw headcounts.
The Rio Grande Valley doesn’t lack opportunity. It faces a choice: remain a low‑cost periphery, or become a high‑skill, high‑wage industrial corridor. The work described in this meeting suggests many local leaders have already made their decision.
